HARVARD WIDENS INQUIRY IN C.I.A. AID TO PROFESSOR

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00587R000201160026-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 13, 2010
• Sequence Number: 26
• Publication Date: October 20, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/13: CIA-RDP91-00587R000201160026
ARTICLE APP~aR NEW YORK TIMES
ON PAGE 20 October 1985
C .I.A .
Harvard Widens In
Aid to Professor
By COLIN CAMPBELL
Sgtul to lw. York Times
CAMBR)DG)'Mass., Oct. 18 - Offi-
cials of Harvan University have. do-
cided to broaden their inquiry into
$150,000 in grants that the Central Intel-
ligence Agency made to a Harvard pro-
fessor of Middle Eastern studies;
John Shattuck, Harvard's vice presi-
dent for governmental and public af-
fairs, said in an . interview here
Wednesday that "all aspects of this
matter" were being investigated by A.
Michael Spence, dean of the faculty of
arts and sciences.'
This is an extremely serious matter
that affects the heart of the academic
enterprise," Mr. Shattuck said today.
Dean Spence said last week that the
professor, Nadav Safran, head of Har-
vard's Center for Middle Eastern Stud-
ies, had "erred" in failing to inform
Harvard that a. conference on Islam
and politics this week was being sup-
by a $47,700 grant from the intel-
agency. But Dean Spence said
the professor would not be disciplined.
Grant for His Book, Too
The Harvard dean had also said that
an additional C.I.A. grant of $107,430 to
Professor Safran to support work on a
book, "Saudi Arabia: The Ceaseless
Quest for Security," which was pub-
lished last month, was not of formal
concern because Professor Safran had
told the university about the grant.
But Harvard officials have suggested
in recent days that the grants have
raised more questions than 'they
seemed to last week. "Last week," Mr.
Shattuck said Thursday, "a very lim-
ited number of facts was available."
Mr. Shattuck said that the grant for the
book was now also being investigated.
Starting Oct. 10 The Hai yard Crim-
son startled the university toy publish-
inga series of articles on Professor Sa-
fran's support from the intelligence
agency. The articles included quota-
tions from the C.I.A. contract.
The contract to suppose Professor Sa-
fran's book, dated in 1882, included this
sentence. "Clause E of the subject con-
tract is consistent with standard
Agency practice to reserve the Govern-
ment's right to review and approve any
and all intended publications resulting
from Agency-funded research efforts."
The same section also states, "Nothing
m this amendment shall be construed
as waiving the Governi;nen's right to
deny permission to publish."
Mr. Shattuck said that under Har-
vard's policy such conditions "would
be absolutely out of the question."
His RssiiontI011 Called For researchers to submit their work to Elie
The matter has quickly Brown bitter. censorship of any outside agency.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, as Proles- UNiChanodw ~~ qmvs
ference on politics and 'slam, three of
the six professors on the governing
committee, of the Center for Middle
Eastern Studies demanded that Profes-
sor Safran resign as director.
Richard N. Frye, professor of Ira.
nian studies, one of these faculty mem-
bers, said in a telephone interview that
a copy of the letter urging the resigna-
tion had been sent to Dean Spant,
e dad
that he and the dean had discussed it.
Professor Frye argued that C.I.A.-
s oesored conferences and research on
the Middle East, especially projects
whose sources of financing remained
undisclosed, exposed all academic re-
s"arcbers in the field to the suspicion
they were spies and saboteurs. He said,
that ,such charges, which are common!
in the Middle East, not only made it dif-
ficult for researchers to obtain visas
but. in some circumsta'u es could also
expose scholars to danger.
,"Can You Think of Any Way?l
'That's why we're asking for his
resignation," Professor Frye said
"Can you think of any other way to re-
pair the damage? People who haven't
lived in the Middle East don't under-
stand the implications of this."
Serious differences have emerged on
how to view Profdssor Safran's han-
dling of the grants.
Last week Dean Spence suggested
that Harvard's key objection was to
Professor Safran's failure. to disclose
the source of the money. Some of Pro-
fessor Safran's critics, including Pro-
fessor Frye, have condemned virtually
any connection of the agency with
sensitive areas of scholarship.
Mr. Shattuck said, "The fact that the
C.T.A. is involved is not the issue." In-
telligence agency support for unre-
stricted research falls within the rules
of research grants at Harvard, he said.
But it is against the rules, Mr. Shattuck
said, for researchers working under
the aegis of Harvard not to disclose the
sources of their finances. It is also
against the rules, he said, for Harvard
agency required no changes in his book.
on Saudi Arabia. his pi-:.::is*' under-
scanding with the -iaenc} ~,-r,-uns un-
cleak., however.
Professor Safran said W ' inesday,.
shortly after the end of his ;i ni.erence
on "Islam and Politics in the .:oatem-
porarj Moslem World," that pia had not
seen the letter calling for his resigna-
tion until late that afternoon.
Despite arrangements to keep Lite conference private, several reporters
were allowed to listen in. The open ses=sions focused mainly on fundamental-
1st resurgent Islam.
About half the 90 or so expected. par-
tiLipants showed up for the conference
at the Harvard Faculty Club.,
Papers presented dealt with Iran,
Shiite Islam, the radical Moslem
Brotherhood and United States policy
toward what some speakers called an
extremely hostile political and reli-
gious ideology. The conference's panel-
ists included Israelis and Arabs as well
as Americans.
A spokesman for the Central Iritelli??
asked to
comment on the grants to Professor Sa-
fran, said that the agency would not
discuss specific cases but that disclos-
ing the financing source was "the pro-
fessor's obligation," not the agency's.
"It's his obligation to follow Har-
vard's guidelines," she said.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/13: CIA-RDP91-00587R000201160026-6